New modular buildings to replace two halls

New modular buildings to replace two halls

Later this month, UNT will begin preparing for two modular buildings to replace Stovall and Scoular Halls, which will be demolished to make way for a new University Union.

Modular buildings are manufactured buildings that are transported to their site after construction. The buildings will be placed east of Welch Street near the old Church of Christ building, which will be demolished.

“The modular buildings are an in-kind replacement for the current facilities,” senior project manager Cassandra Nash said. “The square footage and equipment is the same as the current space in Stovall and Scoular, but we worked hard with the end users and design team to reconfigure the space so it will function better than the current space.”

Ramtech Building Systems will make the modular buildings for UNT, costing $3.5 million. Director of marketing Steve Sickman said while the buildings are technically modular, his company works hard to do as much of the construction on-site as possible.

“A lot of the finish work we tend to do is on-site,” he said. “We’ve just come to believe, and we have for several years, we can provide a client a better environment.”

Sickman said the buildings are scheduled to be ready for occupancy in mid-August.

Sickman also said students shouldn’t expect a downgrade from a traditional building.

“A lot of times that conjures up a lot of negative stereotypes, and that’s the sort of impression I think people get when they hear ‘modular,’” he said. “But our industry has come a long way.”

Dance students, who are housed in Stovall Hall, were skeptical of the coming change.

“At first I was really nervous about it,” dance junior Madison Mulnix said. “They actually let us be a part of it by assuring us that we’re going to be a part of the construction.”

However, Mulnix said she was confused when she learned the buildings were going to be modular. She’d been told UNT had decided to go a different route because the university couldn’t get parts for the buildings across Lake Dallas.

“We’re being told a lot of different things and it’s very confusing,” she said.

Dance senior Nathan Blaser was critical of the decision to demolish Stovall Hall, saying the decision was only made because the department’s SGA representation was lacking and dance students would continue to get the short end of the stick because of that.

“There was no thought into this building’s history and no thought into the artifacts housed here,” Blaser said. “Why are they going to be concerned with us now?”